Once upon a time, people made their own clothes. Up until not so very long ago, bolts of fabric and skeins of yarn were turned into dresses and stockings by the very same people who went on to wear them.
It’s obvious that times have changed, but in past decades, people held on to vestiges of the do-it-yourself spirit. Groovy 70s gals routinely crocheted vests, and jeans of the 1980s were bathed in sinks full of bleach. No such trends exist today, though.
Sure, some industrious lady of the 00s will knit her friend a scarf once in a while, but on the whole, we wear what we can buy in a store. A perfectly stitched Holly Hobbie-style patchwork dress can easily be found among the messy piles at Urban Outfitters.
No need to waste time learning how to sew—we buy our creative impulses, and more alarmingly, we watch them on TV.
Shows like Project Runway, on Bravo and Who Are You Wearing? on TLC, allow viewers to indulge in the creative process without getting their hands dirty. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—these programs are addictively entertaining, dishing out drama and suspense with a side of gauzy chiffon.
But it’s easy to worry that Americans will just sit back and forsake their crafty aspirations in favor of watching more talented people fulfill theirs. Why bother trying to make yourself a dress when the TV version will come out better, and maybe even win its designer weeklong immunity?
If people’s craving for DIY hasn’t dissolved, then their appreciation for DIY creations definitely has. It’s true that a necklace you make yourself at the local bead store won’t always be as nice as the handmade one in the free trade shop.
But it’s the experience of creating, or attempting to create, a beautiful, functional object that is inherently valuable.
In a world full of frozen gourmet dinners and mass-produced artwork you can buy at any Target, people have forgotten how to use their hands in conjunction with their imaginations. Even if you never use it, fashioning yourself a purse out of an old pair of shorts is a fun way to waste time without clocking extra hours in front of the tube.
Today’s fashionistas need to find a way to put a personal stamp on our statements, lest we go down in history as the lazy couch potato generation that never even touched a pair of pinking shears.
Do it for Katherine’s self at kln7@georgetown.edu.
